Freaky Friday: Pacific University

05.06.11

This week we travel to Forest Grove, Oregon– home to Pacific University. Founded in 1849, Pacific is no stranger to unearthly happenings. Jessica Hamlet, a Pacific University graduate, shares stories of one ghost who is determined to scare you to bits.

Pacific’s resident ghost is Vera, a young woman who haunts Knight Hall, which is now home to the University’s admissions department. In the first part of the 20th century, Knight Hall housed the music department. It is rumoured that Vera was upstairs one night, practicing the piano, when her boyfriend stopped by to visit her. In her haste to greet him, she reportedly fell down the stairs and broke her neck. She has haunted the building ever since.

Tales of Vera haunt Pacific University’s Knight Hall.

Vera spends her time like any other ghost—closing doors and windows, moving furniture, making noises, and even writing on the chalkboards in the basement. She also occasionally appears in the upper windows in the evenings, and sometimes even ventures out of the house and across the street to one of the residential buildings, Walter Hall.

That’s where my college friend first spotted Vera.

My freshman year, one of my friends was living in the north wing of Walter, closest to Knight Hall. She said that she woke up one night to find her window open and Vera sitting at the desk, watching her sleep.

Creepy!

Being a music student, Vera has strong opinions about any sounds being played in the building. She’s been known to turn off the radio if she doesn’t like the music. When the building was still home to the music department, Vera would sometimes play the piano and sing. There is a report of a student who was in the building one night and began to play the piano. The room suddenly became very cold, and a young woman entered the room. She approached the piano, said “please stop,” and left the room. The student followed her into the hall, but she had disappeared. The student reportedly returned the next night with more people and began to play the piano again. Although Vera did not reappear, the students reported hearing a very loud, very dramatic sigh when the piano player hit a wrong note.

Jeff Grundon is an admissions advisor who currently works in Knight Hall. He too shared these stories of Vera:

“I’ve had over 50 encounters with Vera. She has locked doors on me, picked up my briefcase and moved it while I was looking at it, and turned on a fan that was off. She has made smells in one spot in my office, walked up and down the stairs, closed doors, laughed at me, and whispered to me and my brother. She’s turned on the lights in the building, then I’d turn them off and come back later and she had turned them all on again.”

– Jessica Hamlet, Guest Blogger, Pacific University ’08

Freaked out yet? If not, here are some more ghostly tales. And if you have your own to share, feel free to submit them in the comments below.